New Survey: Less Than a Quarter of Americans Think Trump Should Fire
Mueller or Pardon Senior Officials Despite Deeply Polarized Perceptions
of the Russia Investigation

New Polling from the Democracy Fund Voter Study Group Shows that Most
Republicans Doubt the Fairness of the Mueller Investigation, But Still
Tend to Believe that the Charges Being Investigated are Serious

June 27, 2018 10:13 AM Eastern Daylight Time

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A new report from the Democracy
Fund Voter Study Group shows strong support for Special Counsel
Robert Mueller and a consensus that the allegations against Russia and
the Trump campaign would be serious if proven true. However, a
significant gap exists between Republican and Democratic voter attitudes
toward Mueller and the investigation.

The Voter Study Group is a research collaboration of leading analysts
and scholars from across the political spectrum. The new report, Jumping
to Collusions: Americans React to Russia and the Mueller Investigation,
by Joe Goldman (Democracy Fund) and Robert Griffin (Public Religion
Research Institute), analyzed new data from a May 2018 survey of more
than 6,000 Americans about their attitudes toward the Mueller
investigation.

Key findings from Jumping to Collusions include:

About two in 10 Americans think it would be appropriate for Trump
to fire Mueller, while six in 10 say it would not. In addition,
most Americans believe that it would not be appropriate for the
President to pardon senior members of his administration over the
investigation. Even among those Americans who are “not too confident”
in the fairness of the Mueller investigation, 58 percent say removing
Mueller would be inappropriate. It is only among those who are “not at
all confident” in the investigation that support for removing Mueller
emerges (58%).

While skeptical about the integrity of the investigation, a
majority of Trump voters (51%) say that the charge of obstructing the
Mueller investigation is serious, if true. Similar percentages of
Trump voters say that the charges of seeking or accepting Russian
assistance are serious.

90 percent of Clinton voters believe that improper contact with
Russia probably occurred while 82 percent of Trump voters say it
probably did not. Similar levels of polarization can be found in
perceptions of the FBI and Justice Department, along with the
integrity of the investigation itself.

Among Republicans, Kasich and Rubio voters are the most supportive
of the investigation and most skeptical of presidential intervention
in the investigation. More than a third of Kasich voters (37
percent) and one in six Rubio voters (16 percent) think that the Trump
campaign “definitely” or “probably” had inappropriate contact with
Russia.

Republicans who consume a lot of news are more likely to be
supportive of the Trump administration and skeptical of the
investigation. Compared to those who follow the news “some of the
time” or less, Republicans who follow the news “most of the time” are more
likely to say that the Trump campaign did not have improper contact
with Russia (88 percent vs. 63 percent) and that they are “not
confident” in the fairness of the Russia investigation (80 percent vs.
49 percent).

“While it is encouraging that more Americans are confident the
investigation is fair, the deep partisan divides on this issue raise red
flags,” said Robert Griffin, associate director of Research at the
Public Religion Research Institute. “It’s also troubling that Republican
voters who are more likely to follow the news are actually less
supportive of the investigation, indicating that the current media
environment is doing more to polarize Americans than unite us around a
common set of facts.”

“Most Americans believe that the President is not above the law and
should not interfere with the investigation,” said Joe Goldman,
president of Democracy Fund and co-founder of the Democracy Fund Voter
Study Group. “It’s only when people lose all faith in the fairness of
the investigation that a willingness to support pardoning senior
administration officials emerges. Leaders from both parties need to take
steps to ensure that the American people are able to believe in the
integrity of this investigation and our system of justice.”

The full report can be found at www.voterstudygroup.org,
along with other research from the Democracy Fund Voter Study Group.

About the Voter Study Group

The Democracy Fund Voter Study Group is a research collaboration of
nearly two dozen analysts and scholars from across the political
spectrum examining and delivering insights on the evolving views of
American voters. Our research and analysis is designed to help policy
makers and thought leaders listen more closely, and respond more
powerfully, to the views of American voters. Please sign up for email
alerts here.

VOTER Survey Methodology Summary

In partnership with the survey firm YouGov, the Democracy Fund Voter
Study Group commissioned the May 2018 VOTER Survey (Views of the
Electorate Research) Survey of 4,705 adults who had participated in
similar surveys in 2011, 2012 and 2016. The May 2018 VOTER Survey also
included interviews with 500 Hispanic respondents and 800 respondents
ages 18-24, who had not previously participated in the earlier VOTER
surveys. A complete 2018 survey methodology is available here.

About Democracy Fund

Democracy Fund is a bipartisan foundation created by eBay founder and
philanthropist Pierre Omidyar to help ensure that our political system
can withstand new challenges and deliver on its promise to the American
people. Since 2011, Democracy Fund has invested more than $100 million
in support of a healthy democracy, including modern elections, effective
governance, and a vibrant public square.